The Ottawa Citizen: Arrest made, van seized after hit-and-run injures five cyclists
Two cyclists remain in critical condition
BY GLEN MCGREGOR AND DAVID GUY, THE OTTAWA CITIZENJULY 18, 2009
OTTAWA — Ottawa police have made an arrest and recovered a vehicle they say left the scene of an accident that injured bicyclists — including two listed in critical condition — in Kanata just before 8 a.m. Sunday.
Police had asked the public for help in locating a brown or beige late model mini-van involved in the horrifying crash that left the northbound lane of March Road strewn with twisted bike frames and broken helmets.
An off-duty Ottawa bylaw officer who witnessed the accident told paramedics the cyclists were struck by a van, said Ottawa Paramedics superintendent of operations, Darryl Wilton. There was no sign of any vehicle when paramedics arrived, he said.
Wilton said the injured included:
• A man in his late 30s, who suffered closed head injuries and showed signs of brain injuries. He also suffered a broken ankle, and was intubated by paramedics before being airlifted to hospital. He was unconscious on arrival at hospital and is listed in critical condition;
• A man, 39, who suffered a concussion and other closed head injuries. He was listed in critical condition but stable condition, and was undergoing surgery late Sunday morning. The man’s father, Marcelli Wein, identified him as Robert Wein, a public servant and father of two. Wein is a triathlete who competed last weekend in a triathlon in Carleton Place.
• A 26-year-old woman, identified as Hilary McNamee, a social work student at Carleton University by her father. She suffered closed head injuries, and a possible hip or femur fracture. She was taken to hospital by helicopter and was listed initially in critical condition, then upgraded to serious condition;
• A 36-year-old man, who suffered minor head and leg injuries;
• A woman, 45, who suffered a broken arm and a possible dislocated elbow, identified by a friend as Cathy Anderson of Kanata.
The group of five cyclists included Mark White and Rob Harland, according to that friend, who knows all five of the cyclists. It is unclear which of those two was more seriously injured.
Anderson was treated at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital and the others were rushed to Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital.
The group cycles together every weekend and were planning to ride from Kanata to Pakenham, Ont., and back on Sunday morning.
Wilton said a paramedic was also taken to hospital for treatment after getting blood on his face and in his eyes.
The northbound lanes of March Road north of Solandt Road were littered with the wreckage of the five bikes Sunday morning. The frames were mangled or shattered completely, stretched along 120 metres of the road. March road in that area has bike lanes.
Cycling shoes, sunglasses, broken helmets and blood from the injured punctuated the scene being investigated by police.
